Modern firearms, such as the M-16 and other weapons, employ magazines for storage and loading of ammunition into the weapon. Metal magazines are well known for this purpose. Metal magazines have several disadvantages including corrosion and their tendency to become dented and bent when dropped in a fully loaded condition. Such deformations can have serious consequences for the operation of the firearm and can result in jamming under battle conditions.
For these reasons and also for reasons of economy and efficiency in production, magazines formed of plastic have been developed. These have been found to be unsatisfactory since they tend to crack particularly at their top end edges when dropped in a fully loaded condition.